Placebo Pill vs. Antibiotic Rifaximin, Which is Better for Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
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Taking antibiotics helps relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome such as bloating, according to a new study in the Jan. 6 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study showed 40 percent of patients treated with a 2-week course of the antibiotic rifaximin, made by Salix Pharmaceuticals, experienced relief of symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome compared to 32 percent among those untreated.
For the study, Dr. Yehuda Ringel at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill asked 1260 men and women with irritable bowel syndrome, but no constipation, to take either rifaximin or a placebo three times a day for two weeks.
Subjects treated with the antibiotic were more likely to report less stomach pain and loose or watery stool. But the relief lasted only 10 weeks, according to a report by healthday.com. Because the treatment delivered only a 10-week relief of IBS symptoms, repeated treatments may be needed for a long term relief, which may be a problem, a health observer suggested.
The health observer also suggested the antibiotic treatment may only deliver a placebo effect.
Researchers reported on December 22 in PLoS ONE that patients with irritable bowel syndrome taking a sugar pill with no active ingredient were more likely to report adequate symptom relief compared with those left untreated, 59 percent vs. 35 percent.
Ted Kaptchuk at Harvard Medical School's Osher Research Center and colleagues from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), the authors of the study, observed the effect after having given 40 IBS patients a placebo pill twice a day for three weeks and another group of 40 patients were treated with nothing.
Some modified lifestyle parameters may help IBS as well. Another study published in the Jan 4, 2011 issue of American Journal of Gastroenterology suggests that physical activity may help relieve symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
The study led by Johannesson E and colleagues from University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden showed patients who were more physically active faced less symptom deterioration, compared with those who were inactive.
Johannesson et al. compared 48 controls who remained physically inactive and 37 patients who boosted their physical activity to see how exercise would affect symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
The researchers found physical activity decreased the IBS Severity Scoring System score significantly.
Should you take antibiotics or some vitamin pill to treat irritable bowel syndrome?
David Liu and editing by Denise Reynolds
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